72 Hours
by stripesthetiger11
Summary: Everything is normal in Happy Tree Town, well at least as normal as things get in this town. Sniffles has made an invention that will make Happy Tree Town famous. But when the machine is stolen, all the evidence leads to Shifty Raccoon. Now, Shifty only has three days to prove the town of his innocence before he is known as the world's biggest thief. Thanks for all the OCs.
1. Intro

**Stripesthetiger11 here with not a new chapter, but a new story! I told you I'd have a new story soon. Now, this story revolves all around Shifty, but I am still accepting OCs. No more OCs once I enter the third chapter.**

**I decided only to do two stories at a time, so once either this story or "Insanity" is done, I will immediately go to another story, which I'm kinda wanting to wright right now. **

**Now Shifty, would you mind telling our readers the disclaimers? *holds a pistol up to Shifty's head***

**Shifty: stripesthetiger11 does not own anything besides her own OCs. Please don't hurt me.**

**Now on with the story!**

I looked out my window at the freakish panther that was talking to the town so called "genius," Sniffles. The front half of her body was white, while the back half was a light gray. The oval on her belly was also a light gray, and her packman pupils were a light blue.

"Who is that chick, anyways?" I asked my twin brother, Lifty. He got off our crappy couch and stood beside me, looking at the panther.

"Oh her?" He asked. "That would be Mirrors. She's new here." I smirked. "Seems like a freak to me," I said. "And she is. Do you know where she lives?" Lifty asked me. I shrugged. "At the fair, in the mirror house, without furniture! No chairs, TV, tables, she doesn't even have a bed! She's just surrounded by mirrors!"

I shrugged. Although that was strange, we've had stranger. A superhero living in a giant metal acorn, a marmot trapped in ice living in a giant snow globe, and even a bear living in a giant metal freezer.

"She's probably a lunatic like Flippy or Lammy," I said, withdrawing from the window. "You don't know that. She might be nice," Lifty said. I sighed.

Lifty disagreed with almost every choice I made. I used to think that since we were twins we would agree with almost everything, but boy was I wrong. Although I hated to admit it, Lifty looked exactly like me. So much like me, that it was disturbing to others and even me. That's why I wore the hat, to make it look like we were different, but we're not.

Well in appearance, we look the same, but it's different in personality. Lifty was always the kinder, softer twin, which effected greatly on our thieving sometimes. Of course, there have been times where I myself would screw up and get us killed, but it was mostly him.

Sometimes, I think it would be best if we weren't twins, or even related at all.

"So, did you hear the news about Sniffles?" Lifty asked me. "What? He finally got a girlfriend?" I joked, crashing on our worn couch. Lifty sighed in annoyance and flicked me in the head.

"No fur for brains, didn't you hear about Sniffles' new invention?" He asked me. I searched through my head to see if I could recall an invention. "Oh yeah, the weird time machine thing. Isn't it just a giant washing machine?"

"Well yeah, but he was able to create a new one, but in small ray gun form," Lifty responded. "But that's not the best part. A few Tree Friends were able to get word around to a couple of other cities that Sniffles built a time machine, but now it's all over the _county_! They're saying that Sniffles' machine might change history forever. A few well known news reporters are coming to town tomorrow. Sniffles will present the ray gun and demonstrate what it can do. Three days after that, the reporters will leave and soon the whole world will know that time travel is possible, and Happy Tree Town will become famous!"

I sat there for a bit, processing the whole thing before smiling. "Yeah, that is great. But what if we stole it?" I asked. It was a joke, but Lifty took it seriously. "Shifty, you are not going to steal that thing. But if you do, I'm not helping," He said. I gave him a curious look.

"What do you mean by 'you're not helping'?" I asked. "I mean that I am done with stealing," He exclaimed. I jumped up from the couch. "You can't do that!" I exclaimed. "That's what we've done our whole lives!"

"And it ends here!" Lifty exclaimed. "Now listen. I'm going to go out and get a job, and I want you to go out and get a life!" And with that, my brother left out the front door.

I sighed and thought to myself for a few minutes, and then I walked out the door. I made sure to lock it, even though Lifty and I were- I mean I was the only thief in town.

I crossed the street, not even bothering to look both ways. I started thinking to myself, but those thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my guts splattering all over the windshield of a milk truck.

***Epic face***

**I hoped you like it! This was great! Oh, and the idea for Mirrors came from me watching the movie "Dark Mirrors." It's just that she's not evil. Yep, I've made her an official OC! *happy panda***

**Anyways, I'm pretty sure you want to send in your OCs THROUGH PM *hint hint* so I can use them. Here's the info.**

**Name:**

**Gender:**

**Age:**

**Appearance:**

**Personality:**

**Relationships with other characters:**

**Bio:**

**Abilities/Talents:**

**Misc:**

**Review!**


	2. Lost in the Crowd

**Chapter 2 of my new story! Now, I got a lot more OCs than I expected, but that makes it even better! I'm trying to update this as quickly as possible. And now… enjoy!**

My eyes fluttered as I woke up from my painful sleep. I sat up, but stopped when I felt my head start to ache. I opened an eye and peered at my surroundings. I was in a hospital bed in a white room. This is where everyone would wake up after dying.

I saw that a couple of beds away from me were two other animals. It was Muffin and Rainer.

Muffin was a female maroon colored fox with a mauve shirt that depicted a muffin (she says it's chocolate chip, but I think it's actually raisins.) On her right ear was a cookie pin that looked so real, Nutty tried to eat it. She was also the town's only baker. Well, Lumpy once tried setting up a bakery of his own, but it was shut down by the health inspector once everyone started to get the flu. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at a sleeping Rainer.

Rainer was a male dark gray cat with tabby markings. He was always a hyper Tree Friend, which often got him killed, along with the fact on how arrogant he was. And he was only six.

"What happened to the kid?" I asked groggily. Muffin jolted a bit by the unsuspected noise and seemed a little surprised that I was here. But she calmed down and smiled at me. "Yesterday, Giggles got her kite stuck up in a tree. Rainer here told us that he could get it, but soon fell into a wood chipper."

I looked at the kid, and then back at Muffin. "What're you doing watching him?" I asked. "Well, I promised I would take him to the presentation today. Everyone's going," Muffin responded. I mentally face palmed myself.

I had totally forgotten that that was today. Well, I only heard about it a few minutes before I got killed, but still.

Rainer slowly opened his eyes and looked at Muffin, then at me. "Hi Muffin. Hi Mister, uh-"

"Shifty," I said for him. "Hi Mister Shifty," Rainer said cutely. I smiled. The kid had never really learned my name, mostly because I wasn't the type of person to be around six year olds.

"Shifty?" Muffin asked, "I thought you were Lifty." That's when I realized that I wasn't wearing my hat, which was odd because all Happy Tree Friends regenerated with their clothes.

"Well, we'll be off. The presentation is in less than a few hours," Muffin informed me. She grabbed Rainer's hand and began to lead him outside.

There was something missing in the room, though. "Wait," I cried. "Have you seen Lifty here? Like at all?" I asked, hopeful. Muffin shook her head. "Sorry Shifty." I sighed.

Although it wasn't often, there were times where Lifty would get killed but I survived, and vice versa. Every time that would happen, we would always be at the hospital, waiting for the other to revive. I guess Lifty was true about what he said.

Muffin must've sensed that something happened between me and Lifty, because she sighed and said, "Shifty, would you like to come with me?"

I raised an eye. I didn't think Muffin would ask that, since I'm always robbing her bakery for goods. I shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

I hopped out of my bed, stumbling a bit, and then followed her out the door. "Where exactly is this presentation taking place?" I asked the fox. "City hall," She replied. "Great, my house is on the way. Can we stop by there for a second?" I asked. She sighed but nodded.

My house was about a fifteen minute walk, and to the city hall was a thirty minute walk. When we got to my crappy, small home, Muffin and Rainer stood beside the house while I went to get my hat, if it was there.

I moved the handle and, to my surprise, it opened. I remembered locking the house yesterday. Although, Lifty could have came back but went out without locking the door. Yeah, that must've been it.

I looked all around for my fedora, but never saw it once. I sighed and decided to go without it, but then everyone would be calling me Lifty. I walked out the door and closed it, but then I saw something that I didn't see last time.

I bent down to take a look at the lock. It was twisted at a weird angle and very loose. Someone broke the lock. Lifty didn't need to break the lock, because he always had the key in his pocket.

I decided that I shouldn't keep Muffin waiting, so I walked up beside her. "What took so long?" She asked. "Well for one, I couldn't find my hat. And for some reason, the lock is broken," I explained.

"What, you think someone stole your hat?" Asked a voice from behind. He was a blue tiger in a tiger military uniform. There was also a gun strapped to his back and a red scar on his left eye. His name was Scott Charles Anderson Roscarieon, but everyone called him Scar for short.

"Yes I do, actually," I said. "I don't know, it looks very worn, old and dirty," Scar pointed out. "He's got a point there," Muffin said. "Who knows, this is Happy Tree Town," I said. Both of them nodded at my point.

About thirty minutes later we arrived at city hall. Scar walked off somewhere and Muffin went to take Rainer to see Splendont, who in his opinion was "the coolest animal EVAR!"

I looked around and saw almost everyone here. I saw Grim and her little brother, Broken, whispering to each other, waiting for something actually exciting to happen.

Grim had eventide fur. She wore a black pullover, dark blue jeans, black combat boots, and black fingerless gloves. Her eyes were red with a scar over the right eye. Her hair was black which reached the middle of her back.

Broken had ghost-like fur, but still solid. He wore a red pullover, black jeans, black slip on Vans, and a skull necklace. His eyes were green with a scar over his left eye. His hair was three glowing spikes on the top of his head, with black at the tips.

Grim laughed a bit at his brother's comment, and I looked away to find something else of importance.

I then spotted Zer0 and Mirrors together. Zer0 was a red bear with a black shirt, blue jeans, sneakers, and army style Hooters hat. Mirrors kept giggling at everything Zer0 was saying. I moved closer to see what they were talking about.

"Can you do an Australian accent?" Mirrors asked shyly. Zer0 cleared his throat and spoke, "Gooday mate. I hear that yer interested in my accents." Mirrors started giggling uncontrollably. I sighed. Zer0 was known for being able to speak in every accent in the world. But that still wasn't able to change the fact that Zer0 was still as lazy as a pig.

"Okay, now how about a pirate accent?" She requested. Zer0 rubbed his chin and cleared his throat once again. "Yar! Tis this good enough for ye, young lassie?" He hollered, mimicking Russell pretty well, who was glaring at the bear from the distance.

Since Mirrors was facing me and Zer0 was turned around to talk to her, I was able to get a good look at her face. Her pupils were a creepy light blue, which got me thinking. She was giggling nonstop, but her eyes held no emotion and stared straight forward. Her pupils never seemed to move, even if Zer0 moved in another direction. It was as if she wasn't listening and pretending to laugh. I'd have to ask someone about that later.

My attention turned back to the pirate I was looking at just seconds ago. He had stopped glaring at Zer0 and was now talking to three other people. It was Blink, Link, and Stripes.

Blink and Link were two twin snow white wolves. Unlike Lifty and I, they both wore nothing to tell each other apart, besides the fact that Blink had long eyelashes. Link doesn't have lashes because he was in fact a man and Blink was a girl. Speaking of their eyes, they both also had blood red eyes. No pupils, no irises, just red.

Link hated me, and will start growling at me if I get near his sister. Blink was mute, but she was able to wright to me telling me that Link disapproved the idea of us dating. Of course, Blink and I never really "dated," but we just hung out together. We even kissed once, but we never told Blink cause he would flip out and choke me to death. Of course he hates me, but is pretty much best friends with my brother. If you ask me, I think the wolf twins were as bad as Lifty and I. Those two pull pranks continuously and sometimes go overboard and hurt another animal. Then again, they were Happy Tree Town's best surgeons, so they could fix anyone up real quick, if they aren't already dead that is. It also bugged me how Blink never seemed to… blink.

Stripes was a female orange tiger with a brown ranger hat and black stripes. For some strange, crazy, unexplainable reason, we were best friends. At the same time, we were total opposites. The first day she came here, she helped Lifty and I escape with a robbery. Few days later, she arrests us just after getting her job as a cop. Still, we were friends. Usually, being the guy that I am, you would think that I would bug and abuse her often, but you are so wrong. Despite being a cop, Stripes is a sick, twisted, sadistic little cat. She abuses me, picks one me, and even sometimes kills me, but that's on accident. I would fight back or stand up to her, but she's about five times stronger than me, and I really like my face the way it is currently. Trust me, I learned my lesson when I stole her hat as a joke. She is obsessed with that thing.

Stripes caught my eye and raised an eye. I looked away and decided to find something else of interest before she decided to come over here and talk to me. I looked over and spotted Rachel, Vlad, and Sub Zero all talking in a group. I scoffed. Those three were all a bunch of freaks. A group I wouldn't mess with, though.

Rachel was a cat monstrel thing. She had white fur, dark red arms and feet, dark red ears and tail. She had blood red eyes, long silver hair, white button up short sleeved shirt, red skirt, white knee socks and black slip on school girl shoes, and a nurse's hat with a red cross on it. Her teeth were like daggers, and her tail was _almost _normal. Her tail was thin, but at the end was a sharp needle like point filled with red liquid. She also wore a black corded necklace with a small bottle that holds a green poisonous liquid in it, red cross earrings with two unbreakable glass syringes stuck in each ear that have a blue liquid in them, and bright red and white striped fingerless gloves with black ribbons on them. She could morph and change her hands into weapons, which never failed to scare the crap out of me.

Vlad was a black fox/vampire thing. I know it sounds crazy, but I swear it's the truth. He wears a blue jacket, white t-shirt, blue jeans, and red converse. His hair was short, spiky, and black, and his eyes are an eerie yellow. I also noticed that there were "X" tattoos on his palms. On his neck was a black corded necklace with a small bottle filled with some special kind of herb. Vlad always carried an umbrella with him during the daylight, but I knew that it was a trick. There was a day where my brother and I planned to rob Vlad, but Disco Bear beat us there first. He was being a total idiot and tried to take the umbrella away, but ended up getting his neck bitten and his blood sucked out, which kind of sealed the fact that Vlad was a vampire. Too bad for us, Disco Bear came back the next day alive and healthy. Despite all that, he was a pretty nice guy when you get to know him.

Now Sub Zero was a bit easier to figure out, because everyone town knew what he did. He wore heavy winter clothes all year and froze people when he touched them. His fur was light blue and his white eyes held no pupils. He wore brown, furry boots, a brown Eskimo jacket, blue mittens, blue snow cap, and a red scarf that covered his mouth. Sub was more of an outcast. He couldn't control his powers so anyone who touched him accidently turned to ice. He lives in a giant metal freezer and makes a living off of making ice sculptures and figurines. He was more of a shy kind of guy. Right now, he was talking to Vlad and Rachel about how he was the only one who could talk to Cro Marmot, and how they're best fiends because of that.

Vlad seemed pretty interested. "Is that a fact? Because every time Itry to get something out of him, he just stares at me," The fox said. "No, but he wishes he could talk to people more. He's actually a really nice guy, but there are times when he can be rude and mean," Sub confirmed.

I decided to look somewhere else, and I spotted my brother. He was with Cloud and Nina.

Nina was a lynx with lime green fur, with black spots on her tail and ears. Instead of normal buck teeth, there were fangs. She had a yellow circle shaped marking on her torso, and has long black fur at the tips off her ears and she wears an olive green glove on her left hand. Believe it or not, but this chick was my cousin. She told me that she was born and raised in some secret clan of assassins that no longer exists or something like that. Still, at least she approved of Lifty and I's thieving. She also had a small gift shop, which she lived in, and sometimes works at the hospital where Blink and Link are.

Cloud was a male wolf with snow white fur, and a black circle marking on his torso and three black piercings at his right ear. He worked with Stripes on cases in the police department, since he was a police officer. Right now, he was talking his mouth off as if there was no tomorrow, but Lifty and Nina just stared at how talkative this wolf really was.

Lifty looked around and caught my eye. He tilted his head in confusion, mostly because my hat is gone. Then he turned back around and continued his conversation.

"Hey, you alright?" A voice asked. I turned around to see who I was looking at.

He was a male cat. He had black fur with a neon green belly. There was a white hospital eye patch on his left eye and had a creepy neon green demon looking eye in the other. He had fingerless blackish gray gloves, but instead of fingers, they're claws. He had goggles around his neck and a bright green turtle necklace. He had cat-like black ears and a long black paintbrush-like tail dipped with neon green. He was also very tall. This male was U. He had really no expression on his face.

"Do you really want to know?" I asked. "I could really care less," U responded. "What are you avoiding?" I asked. "The news reporters," U said, pointing to a couple of people in the distance.

There were only three reporters that I could see. The first one was a female red puma. She was dressed in fancy black attire. Her nose was a burnt orange, the tips of her ears were yellow, and she was clearly wearing make-up. Excitement could be detected in her eyes. She had a name-tag on her suit that read_ Angel_.

The second reporter held no expression on his face. He also wore fancy clothes, fancier than the first reporter. He was a yellow fox. The tips of his tail, feet, and hands were purple. He gave fake smiles to everyone that came to say hi. His name tag read _Scampy_.

The third reporter seemed to be the most unhappy in the group. He wore regular brown reporter clothes. It's like he didn't even want to be here. He was a green bear with sharp, bared teeth and glowing yellow eyes. He caught my stare and seemed to look into my soul. He smiled creepily at me and chuckled before turning away. His nametag read _Greedy_.

"Why are you avoiding them?" I asked. "Government," U explained. "If they see me, they'll be on my tail in a second." I looked at him strange. "You know, U, people usually keep things like that a secret," I said. "Well what're gonna do? Tell on me?" He asked. I sighed. He had a point there.

"So why aren't you with Samiee?" I asked. "He's over there, with your siblings," He told me, pointing to three animals in the distance. These animals were Samiee, Swifty, and Thrifty.

Samiee was an orange fox with white tipped paws, feet, tail, and ears. His belly was also white. He wore a long black scarf, British-style glasses, and a coal newsboy hat. He also had a large katana strapped to his back.

Swifty raccoon was a green raccoon that wore a black army t-shirt, a tutu that had a mix of black, dark pink, and dark purple, black fishnet leggings, black combat boots, long green hair, her hair swooping over her left eye, her green clip on bow keeping the hair out of her right eye. She was my brother and I's triplet sister. Surprising I know. You would have thought that our mom would have died by giving birth to two children, but no. She just had to make more.

Thrifty raccoon was an electric blue raccoon. He had dark electric blue hair that swoops over his left eye, a black Greenday t-shirt, black jeans, black and white sketchers. He was very short and skinny. Now Thrifty wasn't actually our "real" brother. We found him in a cage a few years after we came to Happy Tree Town. We just had to rescue him. The kid was only six, and he technically was our "half bother."

"What do you think they're talking about, Shifty?" U asked. "I don't know. Maybe _sunshine _and _happiness _and crap like that," I exaggerated, knowing how bright and friendly Samiee was. "Yeah, maybe," U said. "Hey, how did you know I was Shifty, since I don't have my fedora?" I asked, curious. "Well, you're taller, more mature, and only a tad bit deeper voice," U said. "Samiee told me that."

Usually, U was uncaring, rude, and just plain mean to almost everyone. But when it came to Samiee, U went on full on stalker-mode. It was almost a thing here in Happy Tree Town. Many people did it. U goes stalker mode on Samiee, Link goes stalker mode on me and Blink whenever we were near each other and alone, and even Disco Bear goes stalker mode on God knows who. I'm not kidding. It's becoming a thing.

U had somehow wandered away from me while I was still thinking about stalker mode becoming a thing. Instead, he was replaced with Clover. "When did you get here?" I asked.

"About a minute ago, while you were lost in thought," She answered. "Oh," I replied lamely. Clover was a female green furred cat, with long black hair, and green highlights. She always wears a necklace with a clover shaped gem. We knew each other, but just not enough to call us friends.

"What do you want?" I asked. "Nice seeing you here, too," She responded. "Just answer the question!" I demanded. "I'm trying to figure out when this presentation starts. Some of us have been here for hours," Clover said. "God knows when," I said.

"In just a few minutes," A female voice said, answering our question. It was Bunny, next to her brother, Limit. "Well, that's at least what Sniffles told me."

Limit scowled at me. He hated me, since I was a thief, but I wasn't bothered by it much. Bunny was a baby yellow bunny. She wore a white t-shirt, grey jeans and black converse. She has long black hair that is tied up into two ponytails that reached down to her knees. It was some long hair.

Limit was also a baby yellow rabbit. Has black, messy, emo hair that reach down to his shoulders. He wore a long black scarf that reached down to his knees sort of like Bunny's hair, a black t-shirt, blue jeans and white converse. He had a small lightning bolt that was under his right eye.

"No, wait," Bunny paused. "He's gonna start it right about… now!" As if on cue, Sniffles stepped onto a small stage that Handy had set up, carrying a large metal box with a number keypad on the side to get in. The crowd got silent.

"Females and males! I am so glad that you all came here to see my success," Sniffles exclaimed so everyone could hear. I sighed. "He's full of it," I whispered to Clover, Bunny, and Limit, who all gestured for me to get quite.

"Now, time for you to see the thing that will change history!" Sniffles yelled, bending down to type in the combination. Wow, that was fast. Usually, he would make a big and boring speech, but I guess he finally realized that no one wants to hear that crap.

It was a four digit combination that he was typing too fast for me to see what it was. The metal box slowly opened. Sniffles looked inside, and smile instantly melted. He just stared inside the box for a few minutes. Then, he slowly brought his head up and whispered two words.

"It's gone."

Everyone gasped. "What?" Splendid yelled shouted in shock, but not loud enough for everyone to go deaf. Lifty, Swifty, Thrifty all got glances, but most were to me, since I was known as the most mischievous.

Stripes and Cloud stepped on the stage. "Keep calm, people," Cloud said, but not loud enough for everyone to hear. "SHUT UP!" Stripes shouted, making everyone quite down. "We have cameras in the police station. If you come with us, we can look at the monitors and find out who stole the time machine," Cloud explained. Before he left, Stripes grabbed his shoulder and pulled the side of head close to her mouth. "You go. I'll investigate the scene," I heard her whisper. Cloud nodded and made everyone follow him.

When we all got to the police station, it got pretty crowded inside. We all gathered around the monitors in order to see who it was that stole the machine. Cloud backed up the video a bit until he found something. The time said that the robbery was at 3:49 am.

Then the thief showed up on the screen.

Everyone gasped. This man had a long trench coat on to hide his body and tail so we couldn't see the animal. The figure had pointed ears, and over those ears was a hat. A fedora hat to be exact.

My fedora.

The figure with my hat quickly typed in the combination, grabbed the ray gun, closed the box, and quickly left. But the figure accidentally dropped my hat, and another thing ii couldn't identify. The video was interrupted by a voice from behind.

"Hey guys. Look at what I found!" Everyone turned to see Stripes, holding my fedora and a patch of green fur. My green fur. I backed away. Everyone stared at me. "Hey Shifty, I found your hat," Scar growled, getting closer.

"Oh my God," I whispered.

**And finished. I woke up at 2:20 am thinking to myself, "God! I've gotta finish this chapter!" It took me like three hours. And it's like 5:21 now? **

**Ooh, Shifty is in some deep crap! Did he really do it? Or was it someone else with green fur? Try to guess who it is!**

**In the meantime… *Epic Face***


	3. Framed

**Oh god! I'm so excited! There will be some twists in the story! Welp… I hope yall like it. This is actually a pretty short chapter, so sorry.**

Everyone stared at me. All I could do was stare back, wide eyed and open mouthed. Lifty stared at me, shaking his head in disappointment.

Stripes walked up in front of me. "Shifty Raccoon, you are under arrest for stealing a possession of Sniffles Anteater. I strongly suggest that you return it at once or I shall read you your rights and you will be sent to jail." She bent me over the table with my paws behind my back and put cuffs around them.

"But I didn't do it!" I exclaimed. "I was framed!" And it was true. All I wanted to do was just go to Sniffles' stupid presentation since everyone else would be there. What I wasn't expecting was to be accused of stealing the time machine and get cuffed!

"Sorry Shifty ol' buddy. With how long we've known you, I'm gonna need more proof than just your word to let ya go," Stripes said. "So what's it gonna be? You give us the ray gun thingy or you'll be shoved into the police car?"

I bit my lower lip. "I don't have it! You can check my house if you want to! I didn't even touch the stupid machine!" I exclaimed. While still bent over the table, I saw Lifty glaring at me while whispering to Milky, who was shaking her head at me.

I growled. Milky was a white cow with a blue patch over right eye, black patches of fur all over her long, white tail with blue star on the end. She had a gold earring in her left ear and a cowbell around her neck. Milky obviously had a crush on Lifty. I could see it from a mile away, and even Lifty showed signs of having a crush Milky, too.

I looked around more. Link smirked at me while Blink wore a deep, upset expression on her face. Cloud was looking through a paper for the list of rights. Splendid was talking with Stripes while eyeing me with a glare in his eye. Mirrors just stood in the background, looking at me with a confused look on her face, but pupils were still. Disco Bear was… being his usual self, flirting with Yoyo.

Yoyo was a black and white panda with a black circle around left eye, two black puff ball pigtails, and lime green tail. She also wore a cream colored vest and lime green flats. Weird thing was that Yoyo was disgusted by Disco Bear's flirting, which was more than just unnatural.

"Alright Shifty, we'll check your house, but you're comin' with us," Stripes settled. I sighed in relief. Once they saw that the time machine wasn't in my house, they would have to let me go and I could return to normal. Of course, I would be brought in for questioning, but they wouldn't get anything out of me, because I was innocent. "Fine by me," was all I could muster. Stripes grabbed me by the back of my neck, dragged me outside, and then shoved me into the police car.

…

Stripes, Cloud, Splendid and I were inside my house, trying to find non existing time machine which was not here. I was still cuffed and sitting in a chair. I wasn't allowed to interfere or else that would mean immediate arrest. Everyone else was waiting outside. They weren't allowed to come inside, and anyone who did would also be arrested.

The three animals were flipping over tables, lifting couches, and looking in all closets. "All right, Shifty," Stripes said. I looked up at her hopefully, hoping that she would say that I could leave. "Time to check your room," She said. I frowned, got up, and followed the hero and two officers.

My room. When we were little, Swifty, Lifty and I all used to sleep in the same room, but now we all sleep in separate rooms, except Swifty and Thrifty. There were no other rooms.

When we got into my room, the three began searching the room. They searched everywhere. In the closet, behind the mirror, on the dresser, and in the dresser.

Then Splendid checked under the bed.

"Uh Stripes, Cloud, you might wanna take a look at this," Splendid called from down under. He got up and showed what he held in his paws.

It was a silver metal ray gun, no bigger than a shoe box.

All three stared at me. I opened my mouth to form words, but all that came out was, "I… I, uh… I didn't… that wasn't… oh god." Stripes grabbed me by the neck again before dragging me outside. She pushed through the crowd that was gathered around the door, waiting to hear if I was innocent or not.

The tigress pushed me inside the car and slammed and locked the door. The window was partly open, so Cloud came over and said, "Shifty Raccoon, you are under arrest for stealing the time machine owned by Sniffles Anteater. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in-" I wasn't listening anymore. I was focused on Stripes. She was crowded by the news reporters, Angel and Scampy, but Greedy just stood by, watching me. Stripes started to answer all their questions.

"What is the name of the thief?"

"Shifty Raccoon."

"Has he ever stolen or been accused of stealing before?"

"More than you can count."

"Can you tell us what will happen to him?"

"I'm afraid I can't give out that information."

I gritted my teeth. I knew what the consequences were. They were bad, and I mean really bad, which was why I never stole anything this big before. It wasn't death row. That wouldn't do really anything. It was worse than being locked up in jail or killed in Happy Tree Town.

Before I knew it, Cloud left. Everyone started crowding around Cloud, Splendid, and Stripes to ask questions. No one paid any attention to me anymore. I lowered my head.

Then I heard someone rush past the police car.

I shot my head up to look out the window, but the figure had already passed, but something was thrown through the partly open window. It flew towards me and landed on my lap. It took me only a few seconds to figure out what it was.

A key.

It was small, silver, and light. I stared at it for a bit. Whoever just ran past the car a few seconds ago had thrown a key through the window. That meant that someone believed that I was innocent. I looked at the key for a few seconds, and then at the cuffs restraining my hands behind my back.

I made sure no one was looking, and then I bent over and grabbed the end of the key with my teeth, turned my head over to my paws and dropped it. My paws were lucky enough to catch the key and not letting it slip.

I bit my lip as my fingers struggled to get the key into its socket. I growled and cursed myself in frustration when I dropped the key after fumbling with it. It took me a bit of a while, but I was finally able to get a hold of the key again.

After more difficulties, I finally was able to get the key in. I gave out a triumphant smile and then tried turning the key. When it wouldn't move, I tried turning it in the other direction and it moved with ease. I heard a _click _and I tugged on one cuff. It slipped off of my paw and I got my other arm free. I threw the cuffs in the back and looked out the window for any witnesses. None.

I made sure that no one was looking at me before I unlocked the door and kicked it open. Limit and Clover were the first to notice. "Hey! He's getting away!" Limit shouted. I gulped and sprinted the other way, pushing Grim, Broken, and Zer0 out of the way. Samiee tried to get in my way and stop me, but I just socked him in the face and ran past him.

I ran at full speed down the road and turned into an alleyway. I made turns all around until I for sure lost them. But just to be sure, I ran inside a hotel that Tree Friends stay in when their houses are destroyed, ran past the empty counter while grabbing a key, ran upstairs and ran into the room number that was also carved on the key. I slammed the door shut and locked it, but I didn't dare turn the lights on. I didn't want anyone even suspect that I was here.

I sat on the bed, away from the view of the window. Before I knew it, the sounds of police sirens were heard outside. I gulped when they got closer, but able to breathe easier when they sounded more distant, but I didn't fully relax until the sirens were gone from hearing range. I waited for hours for that to happen.

The whole time I waited, I was thinking to myself. _Who would frame me? If he wanted the time machine, then why did he hide it in my house? Why me?_

I turned on the news. On it was the visiting reporter, Angel. Despite the situation, she said everything with a large smile on her face.

"Just recently, a young male by the name of Shifty Raccoon, stole an invention created by Sniffles Anteater. And what sort of invention is it? It is a special ray gun that can send animals back in time. Yes, that's right. A time machine. More on this subject as the story continues."

I growled and turned the TV off. I sighed and laid back. I tried thinking of anything that could get me off the hook.

My lock was broken on the door.

Nah, I need more proof. Plus, it doesn't tell me anything about the real culprit.

None of my fur was missing.

No, that's just a stupid point to say to the cops.

I did die yesterday and come back hours after the robbery happened.

Not really proof. No one really knows that I died yesterday besides the guy driving the milk truck, Rainier, which is stupid to even try, and… Muffin!

I shot up. That's it! Muffin! She knows that I died yesterday and even was at the hospital with me to prove it! All I needed was a way to get to the fox to believe me and she can tell everyone else. Almost everyone believes what she says and always takes her word for things. If I could just get to her. That'll be easy. Her bakery, where she lives, is directly across from here.

And when I mean across from here, I mean all the way across town. I guess I should've picked somewhere closer to hide. I sighed. This sucked.

Then I remembered what Lifty had said to me yesterday. _"A few well known news reporters are coming to town tomorrow. Sniffles will present the ray gun and demonstrate what it can do. Three days after that, the reporters will leave and soon the whole world will know that time travel is possible, and Happy Tree Town will become famous!" _I remembered Lifty saying.

Three days. The presentation was three hours ago.

That meant that I had only seventy-two hours to prove I'm innocent before I'm known all over the world as the man who stole the time machine.

**Told ya this was short. And now the adventure begins! Well, I hope you li-**

**Joseph: *walks in* hey Emma. Stripes. Blade! *cuddles Blade***

**Blade: what the-!?**

**Stripes:… Who's the guy?**

**Joseph! I told you to stay out of my room, AND STAY OUT OF MY AUTHOR'S NOTES!**

**Joseph: geeze, fine. If you want me out so badly. *leaves* **

**Wait! That's the door to the other authors!... *sighs* little brothers.**

**Stripes: That was your brother?**

**Unfortunately, yes. Anyshoe, review!**


	4. Being Watched

**Who likes writing and is ready to make a new chapter?**

**Stripes: Sub Zero?**

**What? No!**

**Sub Zero: I have a few good ideas.**

**Stripes: What about Blink?**

**No.**

**Stripes: Samiee?**

**Different author.**

**Stripes: Splendid?**

**Doesn't even belong to an author.**

**Stripes: How about Mirrors? She's great at making stories.**

**Definitely not! She writes everything in mirror script!**

**Mirrors: eurt s'ti **

**I meant me! Now, just read the dang story!**

I looked outside through the window to see Scar and Stripes patrolling the streets, looking for me. I'm starting to think that running off was a bad idea. Wait, scratch that. It was a horrible idea.

It was only a matter of time before they search the hotel I was hiding in, since it was one of the only places they hadn't checked yet.

As if on cue to my thoughts, I heard a knock on my door. "Hello? Is anyone in there?" Cloud's voice rang out through the door. I gulped and started to look around for an escape route. Maybe I could hide under my bed! I rushed over to the edge of my bed and bent over to see if I could squeeze under. Most of my body could fit under, but my stiff tail was too big.

"I know there's someone in there. I can hear footsteps in there," Cloud said.

Maybe I could hide in the closet? No, too small. The bathroom? No, they'll look everywhere including the bathroom. How about the window? That's it!

I ran over to the window and tried with all my strength to open the window, but it wouldn't budge. Then I realized that it was locked. I gave a mental face palm, since a normal face palm was too loud in this situation.

"Open the door, now, or I will have to use force and knock down this door," Cloud threatened.

Without wasting any time, I flipped the lock and shoved the window open. I looked down into the street ten stories below. Maybe I should've picked a less high room to hide in. Before I could change my mind, I took a deep breath and climbed up onto the high ledge. I almost gasped at how high I was. Usually, I wasn't afraid of heights, but when it came to being on the verge of falling to my death, they scared the heck out of me. I carefully shut the window to make sure that Cloud would suspect that I was out the window last instead of first.

No one paid any attention to the guy risking his life on a ten story high ledge. I shimmied across the ledge and tried to find a window ledge above me that I could grab onto and climb. I found one and started to climb it. Luckily, I had a few encounters of climbing buildings, but not this high, so I have had some experience.

I tried to remind myself not to look down, but that just got me more and more tempted to actually look down, so I did. I regretted doing that big time. I climbed higher until I was at least two stories away from my room. I saw the window to my room open and Cloud stick his head out. He looked left and right, but thank god he didn't look up before going back inside.

I felt sweat drip from my face as I got higher and my palms hurt more and more with every ledge I grabbed. I was just barley to the to the top of the building. Just a bit higher and- there! I panted as I pulled myself to the top of the building, only to be greeted by Splendid and Unlimited Bolt.

Unlimited Bolt was the other super hero. He had a small lightning bolt that's under his right eye. He had the same hair style as Limit, but he had white fur, had a white scarf, and wore a white zip up hoodie, blue jeans and white boots. He also wore mask that's yellow. Despite the appearance, Unlimited Bolt's scarf and hairdo really reminds me of Limit.

They glared at me and I backed into the edge of the building, almost falling over. "You're in trouble now, Shifty," Unlimited Bolt said. "Now just wait a second," I said. "I know that I'm not the smartest raccoon in the world, but do you guys really think that I'm dumb enough to put the time machine _under my bed_?"

The two heroes had to think about that for a few seconds. But while they were thinking, I reached into my pocket and touched a cold rock. Emergency kriptonut. I had it in case I ever needed to get away from Splendid, but it wouldn't work on Unlimited Bolt, but at least that would take care of one super hero. It was only a small, sharp fragment, but even a tiny pebble of the green rock could bring Splendid down to his knees.

Before the blue squirrel could do anything, I took the sharp fragment and used it as a knife and stabbed him in the neck. The effects were immediate. Splendid shook and threw up chunks of green I don't even wanna know.

Bolt gasped and bent over to help Splendid, but it seemed like the kriptonut shard probably broke into pieces inside Splendid's flesh. That gave me my chance to escape.

With little hesitation, I ran to the other side of the building and jumped to the next, even though I almost lost my grip and fell to my death. I repeated the act several times until I was out of sight. Unlimited Bolt can teleport to pretty much anywhere, but I don't think he can teleport to me if he didn't know where I was, nor would he let another guy right next to him die.

When the buildings got higher up to the point where I couldn't jump that high, I lowered myself onto the dirt ground, even though I almost fell a few times. It was late at night and sort of hard to see. I looked around to see where I was, but I couldn't really recognize it. It looked like I was in someone's yard, and that this "someone" really must've like plants, because there were exotic plants and weeds everywhere. This must've been Samiee's yard. He was a freak of nature.

I heard a sound behind me and I spun around, but saw nothing. It was a bit too dark to see even ten feet in front of me. I heard the rustle of leaves behind me and I turned around, but it was still too dark. It was probably just another one of those freakish plants that Samiee keeps.

"I found you! All by myself!"

I froze at the familiar voice and spun around to see six year old Rainier, standing in the grass. "They said I couldn't find you, but I did! All by myself!" The tabby kitten shouted. He walked up to me, grabbed my paw, and then tried pulling me in the other direction though I didn't move.

"What are you doing?" I asked. "Trying to drag you to jail, like officer Stripes and Officer Cloud does," Rainier said. I wasn't too worried about Rainier trying to pull me to jail, but I was afraid that he would attract attention with how much noise he makes with that big mouth of his.

I had to find a way to distract him, and fast. Then I saw a few strange looking plants. I can remember Samiee giving me a brief introduction to all his plants, which was boring as heck. But I can recall that one of them was called a catnip plant, and catnip was just the thing to stop Rainier.

I grabbed Rainier and put him in front of a plant with orange flowers, but that had no effect. I tried again with a plant that had leaves with a bit of red in them. Again, nothing. I then put the kitten in front of a plant with grayish leaves and white flowers.

Rainier instantly stood, motionless. He began purring like there was no tomorrow. That should keep him busy. While Rainier was purring at the weird looking plant, I quietly snuck away. I began to hide behind buildings to avoid being seen by animals patrolling the street, like Unlimited Bolt (Splendid probably died) or Vlad and Rachel. I had to wait five minutes in hiding just to walk a few feet every now and then. At this pace, it would take me all night just to get to Muffin's place! If only there was a shortcut to her-

_BAM!_

My thoughts were interrupted when I slammed into a figure hidden in the night, knocking us both down.

"Uh, I'm so sorry! It's just so dark and I wasn't looking!" The voice said.

I froze at the sound of the voice. I slowly looked up from the ground and saw Angel the news reporter sitting in front of me. She squinted her eyes at me, but they widened when she realized who I was. She gave a silent gasp and covered her mouth.

"Y-y-you're Sh-Shifty!" She quietly exclaimed. "Please, don't scream," I whispered, practically begging. "D-d-don't hurt m-me!" She said, just a tiny bit louder. "I'm not gonna hurt you!" I almost yelled. "Just don't yell my name!"

"She doesn't have to say a word."

I gulp and, although I really didn't want to, turned around to see who had spoken. Rachel stood in front of me, glaring at me. She raised her needle-like tail and pointed at me. From what I heard, the needle part of her tail was filled with a red liquid, not blood, that could paralyze you, but just for a few hours.

I gulped and backed away, only to bump into another animal. I turned and saw that it was Vlad. "Are you kidding me?" I whispered to myself. Angel was nowhere to be seen, so I just assumed that she had fled the scene in fear. Rachel stood next to Vlad, and they started walking towards me until I was backed up against the wall.

Seeing that I was pretty much dead meat, I closed my eyes and prayed for a miracle. This must be the only lucky part of my day, because my miracle answered my prayers instantly.

We heard a screeching sound and all turned our heads to see a silver car heading our way. Rachel and Vlad jumped out of the way, but I stood glued to the spot. Thankfully, the car made a quick turn and screeched to a stop just before it hit me. The passenger door opened, but I still couldn't see who the driver was since it was still two dark.

"Get in!" The driver shouted in a deep, menacing voice. Yeah, like I would miss this chance. I jumped onto the leather seat and slammed the door shut. The driver put the car in gear and we sped away.

After a few minutes of silence, the driver asked, "You alright?" I nodded. "My blood pressure is a bit high, but I'll live." The driver chuckled deeply, and I decided to get a closer look at him. I squinted at him, and I was able to detect some of his features.

He was a green bear with yellow glowing eyes and dagger-like teeth. At first I thought the driver was Evil Flippy helping me out, until I saw that he wore a brown suit.

"Greedy?" I asked, shocked. "That's my name. Don't wear it out," The news reporter said jokingly. "Y-you think I'm innocent?" I asked. "Well… kinda," He replied. "I'm a reporter, and my job is to find the truth, even if I really do hate my job. Now listen, I saw you turn your house upside down this morning looking for your hat, so I find it kind of hard to believe that you would just leave your hat on the ground next to Sniffles' lab even if you didn't know that there was a camera watching."

I smiled. At least _someone _believed me. "I have another friend that might believe me. Can you drive me to Muffin's Bakery?" I requested. Greedy shook his head. "No can do, kid. That place has way too many people watching. And if I get caught helping you, I'll lose my job and go to jail. But there is a place near there that only has a few people there. I'll drop you off there and I'll meet with the other reporters. Sound good?" I nodded. It was the safest rout, which was fine by me. But there was one thing buzzing in my mind.

"Hey Greedy?" I started. He grunted, signaling that he was listening. "Did you throw that key through the window that unlocked my handcuffs?" I asked. He gave me a confused look, but shook his head. "Police handcuff keys? Sorry kid. You need to get that from an actual police officer." I sighed.

In about fifteen minutes, the car came into a quiet stop. I didn't recognize this place at first until I saw the giant rollercoaster in the background. This was the carnival. Abandoned carnival is more like it. It was closed nearly a year ago after Lumpy screwed up the carnival's main attraction, which Lifty and I got caught in and died in. Greedy was right, this was close to Muffin's place.

I thanked Greedy, got out of the car, and watched them speed away. I started sneaking behind broken down game booths and kitty rides. I almost had a heart attack when I saw Grim and Broken walking down the path.

I gulped and started to slowly walk behind the booths, desperate to not get spotted. My luck turned to crap when I stepped on a prize bear and it squeaked and said, "I love you!"

Broken and Grim both looked my way, but I was able to hide behind a booth before they were able to actually able to see me. When I heard them coming closer, I ran in the opposite direction and went into the one place closest to me: the mirror fun house.

The moment I ran inside, I accidently slammed into a mirror. I rubbed my head and groaned quietly. I started walking slowly this time, getting closer to the center. It was hard, being surrounded by my reflection. When I got to the center, I saw that I was not alone. It was a panther, one side of her fur white, the other side was light gray, had light blue pupils, and the oval on her stomach was light gray. She was sitting in the middle of her room, legs crossed and eyes closed. She was sleeping sitting up, which kind freaked me out.

"Mirrors," I whispered in shock. The panther's eyes immediately snapped open at the sound of my voice and she turned to look at me. "Don't scream!" I whispered. Mirrors flinched, but otherwise, didn't make a sound.

"Who are you?" She asked. I remembered that she hadn't met me before. "Shifty," I whispered, thinking that I should have gone with Splendid instead. "You're the guy who was accused of stealing the time machine, right?" She asked, getting up and turning to me. I noticed how calm her voice was and how she said "accused" instead of "stole."

I nodded. "Yeah, but you really need to help me!" I begged. "I need somewhere to hide, or else Grim and Broken will catch me!" Mirrors thought about it. I was expecting her to say no, or even run out calling for help, but she just said, "Sure."

My jaw dropped. "Wait, so you think I'm innocent, too?" I asked, hopeful. She just looked at me, smiled, and said, "I didn't see anything."

Before I could say anything about her weird response, she grabbed my arm, and pulled me in front of the mirror she was standing next to. She lightly tapped the mirror and our reflection rippled like water and then stilled.

I blinked, wondering if I just saw what I thought I saw. "How did you do that?" I asked. Mirrors didn't respond. Instead, she grabbed me by the chest and threw me into the mirror.

I didn't hear the sound of glass breaking or feel mirror shards pierce through my skin. That's because Mirrors literallythrew me _into _the mirror.

**Hehe, hoped you liked this chapter! Wait, where is Joseph? *snaps fingers***

**Joseph: *appears while chewing a muffin* wah?**

**GET OUT OF MY AUTHOR'S NOTES!**

**Joseph: *head explodes***

…**I am so grounded.**

**Stripes: Link here says that he's pretty good at making stories! **

**SHUT UP!**


	5. The New Girl and the Arrest

**Random evil voice: HOW DARE BLOW YOUR BROTHER'S HEAD UP?!**

***Runs inside and locks the door***

**Stripes: holy crap! Who is that?**

**My mom! Quickly, start the chapter!**

**Stripes: *quickly* please enjoy this chapter!**

I felt a cool feeling wash over me before hitting the cold floor. I got up and rubbed the side of my head before realizing that Mirrors was no longer in the room with me. Where did she go? I mean, she was in here with me just a second ago until she threw me into the mirror…

I quickly turned around and looked in the mirror I was just thrown into to see the light gray/white panther standing _inside _the mirror. She gestured for me to move out of the way of the mirror. I was gonna question her on how she was able to get inside, but then I saw Grim and Broken come into view next to her, so I just took her advice. I made my way out of the mirror maze just as I heard the brother and sister start questioning the panther about me. I hastily got out of the maze, although I bumped into quite a few mirrors, and my jaw dropped at what I saw.

It was not the same amusement park as I had left it. Everything was backwards. Some of the objects and booths had moved a bit, but the most noticeable thing was the signs on the booths. All the words were in mirrors script. I'd have to hold the signs up to a mirror if I wanted to read it better. It was the same amusement park, but just shown in a mirror. But something that bugged me the most was that the place was abandoned. Not just the amusement park, but the whole city.

Usually at night, if you were quiet, you could hear the sounds of the city and even some of the animals making noises. But now, not even crickets were to be heard. I stood there for a good thirty minutes, looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings.

That's when I realized that _I _was the one shoved into the mirror, not mirrors. I was just looking at the other side of the mirror. "What is this place?" I whispered to myself.

"Welcome to the Mirror World," A voice declared behind me. I turned to see Mirrors coming towards me. "How… how did you do this?" I asked her. She shrugged and stood beside me. "They don't call me Mirrors for nothing," She joked.

"What is this? A different dimension?" I asked, my thick skull about to burst with how many questions I had. Mirrors shook her head. "It's more like another world. Most people don't know it, even though they've been looking through it for years. A mirror is basically a portal from your world to this one. This is the closest world to yours; all you had to do was just step through."

"Were you born here or something?" I asked, since she said "your world" as if she wasn't supposed to be a part of it. She shook her head. "No. I was born with these special powers. My mom had the ability to change other people's appearance in a mirror, but not in real life, and my dad could walk through walls. I just inherited both of their powers, but they're combined."

"Who haven't you told about your powers yet?" I asked, honestly curious. "Hmm, make that everyone else in Happy Tree Town," She responded. I gave her a confused look. "You mean you didn't tell anyone else about this?" I asked. She shook her head. "Why not? Mirrors, this is amazing!"

She sighed. "I want people to find out for themselves. Also, I want people to accept me as a normal animal before actually finding out about what I can do. I don't want people to like me just for my powers. I wanna seem normal before revealing my powers." I nodded. I knew exactly what she was talking about. Most of the people in Happy Tree Town who actually liked Splendid was because of his powers, and showed off the first day he was here and was completely full of it. I liked Mirrors. She didn't show off her powers like most superheroes would have done, still wanted people to know about it, but just wanted people to find out for themselves.

"Hey Mirrors?" I started. "Yeah?" She responded. I was gonna ask her if she was the one who gave me the key, but I decided to go with something else. "What did you tell Grim and Broken?" I asked. "I told them I didn't see anything, and it was the truth," She said. I gave her another confused glance.

Then I realized something. I steadily waved my paw in front of her face. Mirrors didn't flinch or even blink. It all became clear to me. "The only reason you didn't accuse me of stealing the time machine, is because you never saw the video," I said aloud. Mirrors nodded and smiled. That explained why her pupils never moved. "When I was eight, I started playing with my dad's camera, which had a very bright flash. He told me not to mess with it, but instead of listening to him. I took my picture in the mirror with the flash on. Now all I see is black."

I nodded. I looked up into the sky and saw a bit of orange in the horizon. "I should go. It's becoming morning," I told her. We went back into the mirror maze and back to the spot we were originally. Mirrors tapped the mirror again, and I stepped through into the real world. Going through a mirror was a cold feeling, but nice. It was like being splashed with water, but never getting wet.

Thankfully, Grim and Broken were nowhere to be scene. I thanked Mirrors, but just before I left, she stopped me. "Uh, hey Shifty. Can you tell no one about my powers?" She asked. I nodded before remembering that she couldn't see. "Sure thing," I promised, but not willing to break this one.

I made my way through the mirror maze, only bumping into fewer of my reflections than last time, since I had been through this so many times and I've almost memorized the whole thing. Almost.

I stepped out carefully and breathed out a sigh of relief. Grim and Broken were nowhere to be seen, which meant that they probably gave up already. I walked through the amusement park tired, but able to breathe much easier. I had to be much more careful when I stepped out of the park, since I saw a few Tree Friends patrolling the area.

I gulped when I saw Splendid, Unlimited Bolt, Stripes, and Lifty patrolling the area. My breathing became shaky as I carefully hid behind a building, making sure no animal saw me. It was pure good luck for me when I accidentally stubbed my foot on a large rock and swore out loud, but Splendid sneezed loudly at the exact same time.

I didn't make a single sound until I spotted Muffin's Bakery, which I almost screamed out in victory to. It was about a hundred yards away, but I could make it. If I was lucky, that is.

It took me five minutes to go even two yards with all the hiding I was doing, and it seemed like it was taking hours to get even halfway, even though it was just thirty minutes. Then, at long last, I made it to the front door of Muffin's Bakery. Luckily, Muffin opened up pretty early. I made sure no one was looking before entering. I flinched at the sound of the loud bell that rang at the slightest movement of the door.

Muffin herself looked up from her snicker doodles and froze when she saw me. We stared at each other for almost a second before Muffin ran into the back of her bakery and came back with specially decorated cupcakes. Exploding cupcakes to be exact.

"Wait, Muffin, stop," I told her when she raised a cupcake at me, ready to throw it at me and blow me up. "Just let me talk and reason with you. I'm innocent, and you have the proof that can get me off the hook," I informed. Muffin didn't look impressed. "How do I know that you're not lying?"

I bit my lower lip. What I would say next would be kind of embarrassing, but I had seen Samiee and Muffin do it several times. I sighed. "Cross my heart. Hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye," I rhymed, and poked my finger into my closed eye. Muffin hesitantly put the cupcakes down, but left the close beside her.

"What is it?" the fox asked. "Okay, you remember the time on the recording camera when I was "caught," right?" I asked. She nodded. "Yeah, it was 3:49 am," She said. "Exactly! But that day, you saw me regenerate in the hospital, so I couldn't have done it!" I exclaimed. Muffin was slow to respond, due to her being so confused.

"Well, if you didn't do it, than who did?" the maroon fox asked. I shrugged. "I've been trying to figure that out all day!" I said. "But you know it wasn't me, right?" I asked, desperate. Muffin slowly nodded. "Yeah, I guess." She said slowly. I smiled in triumph. Finally! An actual witness!

I then saw the look of surprise on her face, but she was looking behind me instead of at me. Although I knew that I would so regret it, I turned to look at Stripes the tiger, who was in her police uniform. My heart stopped when I saw her.

Stripes growled at me, grabbed my neck, and slammed my head and bent me over Muffin's counter. Muffin herself was too shocked to speak. I didn't resist as Stripes cuffed me and brought me outside, since I knew that it was no use.

"_You know who did it," _I mouthed to Muffin while being dragged outside. I gave one last hopeful glance at Muffin before being shoved into the police car.

***standing next to a chained door* welp, there you have it. Mirrors' secret and Shifty's arrest. Hope you liked it.**

***door falls off its hinges***

**Oh crap! *makes way to the other door***

**Stripes: where are you going?**

**To an author that has a deep closet that I can hide in! *runs out***

**Stripes:… Review?**


	6. Sucks, Don' it?

***walks in all burnt* another chaptah! But this one will be kinda short.**

**Stripes: and you were?**

**It was amazing! I was able to go to the amazing land of Equestria on a speeding U! And then I walked into Muffin's closet.**

**Slenderman: *standing behind me in the shadows***

***shivers* Dude, stop following me! Go back to MuffinHTF! **

**Slenderman: *walks away***

**Finally, peace and quiet.**

**Blade: *stands behind me in the shadows* **

**YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!**

Jail. A place so familiar, but felt different to me this time. Was it because I was in a heavier secured cell? Was it because I was in jail for doing a crime that I didn't even commit? Or was it just because Lifty wasn't at my side this time. I couldn't answer that question.

The prison was in was big enough to fit two hundred fifty criminals, but there was only two in here. The other prisoner was positioned directly across from me, lying on her bed. She was a light brown female bear wearing a crystal necklace and a white bow on her right ear. Her name was Crystal. She was arrested a few months ago after trying to take her little brother, Sub Zero, and drag him from Happy Tree Town for special government testing. She had the power to turn her whole body into pure diamond, but didn't use it now since she knew that this is where she belonged.

"How's prison treating you?" I had asked her a few hours before now. "It's not so bad," is what she had responded, but refused to answer anything else. She was asleep now, so I was technically alone.

I now lie on the moth-eaten sheets of my bed. I had been here so many times; it feels like home to me. I ignore the pair of eyes that stare at me when Crystal wakes up. I don't flinch at the sound of feet hitting the ground as a familiar feline comes into view. It's just all too familiar to me.

"How are you holdin' up?" Stripes asked. I didn't answer, but instead responded with a shrug. How was I doing? I didn't know that. I should be scared, worried, or even a bit depressed. I sat up and looked at her. "I'm fine, thanks for asking." She walked away, only to come back with something else. "I've got this for ya," She said, tossing my fedora into my lap. I smiled and put it on my head.

We stared at each other, unsure of what to say next. "Why'd you do it Shifty?" She asked, leaning against the bars. I got up and slowly walked up in front of her, only the bars separating us. "Isn't the answer simple?" I asked, smirking. "I didn't steal it."

"Oh what? You want me to believe that you didn't touch it once? That someone dressed up like you? That someone stole the time machine _just _to hide it under your bed and frame you?" She exclaimed. I didn't answer for a minute. "I'd like you to believe that, yeah," I said, keeping my voice calm.

"And what makes you think that I would believe any of that?" She asked. My voice grew angry. "Stripes, I've read that book of consequences more than you think. I know the whole thing in and out. I've memorized every paragraph, word by word. I know exactly what will happen to me if I don't get out of here soon. Do you really think that I would do this sort of thing if I knew what would happen? Well, do you?"

Stripes was silent for a minute. Then she pushed her fist through the bars and socked me in the face. I was almost knocked over, but instead I just stumbled back, grabbing at my face.

"Screw you!" Stripes shouted at me. I growled at her, but refused to say anything back. I had almost forgotten that Crystal was watching. "Muffin knows it," I said weakly. "And so does Greedy." Stripes gave a menacing growl at me. She looked like she was about to say something, but her walkie-talkie shook.

She grabbed the device and held it up to her ear. "What is it, Cloud?" She asked rudely. Cloud spoke through the device, and Stripes' eyes widened. She looked at me strangely while saying, "Uh huh? Really? Got it." She put the walkie-talkie back into her pocket before walking towards me.

She was too quick for me to react. She pushed her paws through the bars, grabbed my chest, and pulled me until I slammed against the bars. She stood there, cold eyes staring into mine.

She lowered her paw into her pocket, and then I felt something small and cold get put in my paw. "One chance," She said before letting me go and walking away like nothing happened. I looked at the object I was given and it only took me a second to realize that it was a key. It was small, and just like the one that was thrown through my window. Did she so that? No. She wouldn't do anything like that, since she thought that I was the thief just a few seconds ago.

The key wasn't for the door, but for the handcuffs I would soon be put in for my punishment. I looked at Stripes, who was standing next to the entrance door. "Thanks Stripes," I whispered before putting the key under my hat.

…

I ran across town, determined to get to the police station. But what was I gonna say? I was good friends with the officers, but I doubt they will believe me when I say that Shifty didn't steal the time machine.

I ran past Yoyo and Milky, who tried to stop me and ask what was wrong, but I ignored them. When I saw the police station, I smiled and burst through the doors. When I entered I saw Scar, Clover, Stripes, and Samiee all talking. They all seemed to be surprised that I was here.

"What wrong, Muffin?" Samiee asked. "Shifty's innocent!" I exclaimed. Everyone looked at each other. "We already know that," Scar said. I gave them a confused look.

"Cloud contacted me," Stripes said. "He told me that the cursed idol was missing from the museum at the exact time Shifty was arrested." My mouth opened slightly in shock. The cursed idol could kill anyone who touched it by some crazy, unexplained way. Who in their right mind would steal that?

"So that means we can break him out, right?" I asked. "It's not that easy, Muffin," Clover said. "If we're caught breaking a prisoner out, we'll be arrested, even Stripes." Clover gestured to Stripes. She nodded. "He'll have to do it himself like he did in the police car, but we'll only help just a bit. I've already did my part. But we have to do it fast before the punishment."

"Punishment? What punishment?" I asked. Clover, Scar, and Samiee all seemed to be confused as well. For the first time since Shifty was accused of thievery, Stripes looked worried.

The feline sighed, and then said, "Shifty will be exiled from town this afternoon."

**Hoped you liked it! **

***epic face***


	7. Escaping and Finding

**Hey guys. I can't believe this, but I've stumbled upon a writers block, which is surprising 'cause it never really happens to me. Like ever. **

**Yeah, so I'm just making just this one chapter up as I go. Well, I hope you like this crappy chapter. But in the meantime, ANOTHER PINKIEPIE RIP OFF!**

***pink rain clouds come in and rain chocolate***

**Enjoy!**

"But isn't there anything you can do about it?" I asked urgently, shocked by the news Stripes had just given us, along with everyone else. "Well, I already made the escape easier. Listen, I gave him the key to the handcuffs they'll put on him. He needs to escape when they bring him out. Everyone will be there to witness him go, so it'll be hard."

Everyone nodded at Stripes' words. "So we just have to be there to make sure the whole thing goes smoothly?" Samiee asked. Stripes nodded. "And what if, to say, Shifty failed?" Clover asked. "Think quickly," Stripes answered. "That's it?" Scar asked. "It seems too… easy." Stripes shrugged. "Sometimes you just need to keep it simple," is what she said.

"So, uh, when is Shifty supposed to be exiled?" I asked. Stripes looked at the clock on the wall. "In an hour," she said. "Well then, we'd better go," Clover said. We all nodded and walked out the door.

…

I stared into the cement ground, not looking up once. Once again, I heard footsteps, but I still didn't look up. The cell door opened, after the jingling of keys.

"Alright, Shifty. Let's go," Cloud's voice rang out. Finally, my eyes floated up to look at the white wolf. I sighed and pretended to scratch my head, but in real life making sure that the key was still under my hat. Once I was sure that it was there, I stood up and walked up next to Cloud. He turned me around and put hand cuffs around my wrists.

He grabbed me roughly by my bound arm and pulled me down a seemly endless array of cells. It took only mere minutes, but it seemed to take hours for me.

It took forever, but we finally made it into the end of the hall where two large double doors stood. Cloud kicked them open and daylight flooded in. It took me a few seconds to adjust to the bright light, and when I did, I was dragged out onto the soft grass. I didn't pull. I didn't fight. I didn't protest. I just did what Cloud wanted me to do.

Cloud pulled my arm so I followed him. We walked for another few minutes, but soon a crowd of recognizable animals came into view.

"I know it wasn't you," Cloud whispered into my ear as we continued walking. "Can't be too sure about anything anymore," I responded. "You'd better have a plan," Cloud said. I didn't respond that time. All of the sudden, Cloud started whispering thing that shocked me. He told me that the cursed idol had been stolen.

I became furious. So this had _nothing _to do with the time machine. I was a distraction; a pawn in the middle of a much bigger game. But part of me wondered, who is stupid enough to steal the cursed idol, and how did he not die yet? I put those thoughts out of my head as we continued walking.

We slowly got in front of the crowd, which was full of shouts and angry comments at me. The crowd split and Splendid emerged, giving me a smirk. I growled at him as he pulled me to the center of the crowd. That's when I realized that we were at the edge of the Happy Tree Town, me being only a hundred feet away from the forest.

Cloud nervously pulled out a paper that held the words for my exile. "Wait!" I heard Splendid shout. He slowly floated over to me and looked down at me evilly. I gulped as he reached down. I felt my hat lift off of my head and I started shaking.

Splendid reached in the hat and pulled out the key I kept hidden in there. Everyone stared, even me. Splendid smiled, but instantly frowned when he looked at me. "Do you think I'm an IDIOT?" he shouted at me.

I stared up at him and glared. "Yeah, I did," I whispered. "And I still do." Splendid growled at me and threw the key behind me, and only landed just a few feet behind me where I couldn't reach it. Splendid then glared at Cloud. "Well? Go on!" he commanded as he placed the hat back onto my head.

Cloud gasped and looked at the paper. The whole town quieted as he began reading, but not a single word reached my deaf ears. Time seemed to slow as I glanced around.

Rainier was whispering to Lumpy, looking bored as Cloud was reading. Vlad and Rachel stood by Sub Zero. They looked confused, but I guess they don't know about the exile. Link was whispering to his sister, Blink, but she didn't seem to be listening. She was staring at me, a worried look on her face. Bunny also looked worried over me, while Limit secretly smiled to himself. Yoyo and Disco Bear were whispering to each other while looking at me. Muffin, Stripes, Scar, Clover, and Samiee all stood by each other, looking the most worried. I smiled, knowing that they believed me, too. Zer0, Swifty, and Thrifty stood next to each other, looking nervous.

I gulped when my eyes came across Lifty and Milky. Despite me not listening to anything anyone else was saying, I could hear Lifty loud and clear. "Wait, what are they going to do with Shifty?" Lifty asked Milky and tears came to my eyes. I bent my head lower as tears swelled up and my throat tightened up. I sniffed as all of my hearing came back. Cloud was just about to finish, when something stopped him.

Stripes suddenly pushed through the crowd with a poker face. Splendid grabbed her arm and whispered, "What are you doing?" Stripes glanced at him but pulled away. The female tiger pulled out a pistol and walked behind me. I gasped and squeezed my eyes shut and flinched, knowing what was to come. I suddenly heard a loud _bang _but I was left unharmed. I gasped as I felt pressure of my wrists suddenly disappear.

I pulled my arms back around and realized that the chain that connected them was broken. Stripes had shot the cuffs apart. I swiftly turned around to see Stripes smiling at me, while everyone else looked at her in shock. I smiled at her and she nodded. Before anyone could react, I quickly grabbed the small key off the ground and ran off.

Behind me, I heard shouting from the crowd, but I also heard cheers from Muffin, Scar, Clover, and Samiee. I smiled and wiped my tears away as I doubled my pace. My breathing became heavy as my legs screamed to give out, but I kept moving.

I ran into town and turned a few corners, just like the day I was first caught. Up ahead, I saw the two news reporters, Scampy and Angel. I pushed Scampy out of the way, but Angel just gave out a high pitched scream and jumped out of the way. I ran past them, not giving the two a second glance. I didn't have time for them. I was looking for someone else.

Because I had finally figured out who had framed me.

I turned the corners of a building, knowing exactly where to find this animal. My breathing became heavier and heavier by the thought of finally catching the real bad guy. The key in my hand felt like a burning coal, so I put it back in my hat.

I knew where the criminal was. He was in the one place where I tried to get to all day yesterday.

I sped through town, but had to get to the place in the fastest way possible, so I decided to cut through the abandoned amusement park. On the way, I saw Mirrors sitting next to her mirror home.

"Hi Mirrors!" I shouted as I ran past. Mirrors' head snapped up and waved at me.

My breathing became deep, panting breaths as my energy started draining from my body. My pace began to slow to a stop and I leaned against a blackened booth, panting and wheezing heavily.

"You shouldn't have stopped," a voice said behind me, but I already knew it belonged to Splendid. I turned around carelessly, for some reason not worried at all. The blue squirrel stood there, hovering about a foot off the ground to show off. His eyes glowed red to show that he was about to fire at me with his lasers. I stared at him and smiled, standing up straight. "Take your best shot," I said, stepping back.

Splendid looked shocked, but the red in his eyes glowed brighter as he got ready to fire. Just before I could be burnt into a crisp, there was a faint clicking sound and the barrel of a large gun was pressed to the squirrel's head.

"Let him go if you know what's good for you," Scar said, standing right next to Splendid. The hero looked shocked, but smiled. "Yeah right, Scar. You know bullets can't hurt me," he said. Suddenly, the large tip of a sword pressed against Splendid's throat. "Vat vas that?" Vlad asked, holding his umbrella sword against Splendid's neck, smiling.

Splendid gulped and stepped back, but ended up backing into Rachel, who had her needle tail raised, with Sub Zero behind her, who had his ice lasers ready in his palms.

Splendid gulped again, seeing as he was completely out powered. "I guess you've been, how do you say… owned?" Vlad commented. I started laughing when he said that. "What made you guys believe me?" I asked. "Shifty, a prisoner that Stripes helps break out is and innocent man," Sub Zero said. I smiled and ran past them, thanking them along the way.

In no time, I was in front of Muffin's bakery. It was becoming night now and I was starting to get nervous. I suddenly manned up and kicked the door to the bakery open. Greedy sat in a chair, eating a small cookie.

"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise?" Greedy asked, taking a bite of the cookie, not even shocked that I was here. "You did it!" I shouted at him. "Did what?" Greedy asked, his face expressing confusion, but I knew better.

"You framed me!" I shouted at him. Greedy looked hurt. "I did no such thing!" he said, frowning. "Oh yeah you did," I growled. "I know about the cursed idol." The bear looked slightly confused. "What? Oh, you mean that dumb golden statue that they keep locked in the museum at all times?" he asked and I growled again.

"Shut up and give me the idol!" I yelled, holding my paw out expectantly. Greedy looked at my paw and growled. "And just what makes you thing _I _did it?" he asked through clenched teeth.

I stared at him, but smiled knowingly. "Oh don't play dumb with me. It all makes sense now! Right after I died after getting hit by that milk truck, you ripped a patch of my fur off. The next morning, while I was in bed, but still regenerating, you stole my hat, put on a large trench coat, used make up to make your ears look pointy, and stole the cursed idol purposely on camera while leaving my fur and hat behind! Then, after everyone thought I was the thief and I was on the run, you 'saved' me by driving the car to make it look like you were the good guy only to lead me to where Stripes was and have me arrested! And then, you stole the cursed idol, hoping that everyone would be so caught up with my exile that they wouldn't notice, and that you could just escape town with the idol and my false crime while I'm just wandering around different town like a bum! But not this time! You can pull this kind of crap on anyone else in the world, but not me. I may be a thief, but in real life, you're the criminal!"

I started gasping for air after saying all of that, but Greedy just said nothing, staring at me curiously. He eyed me, but soon a creepy smile spread across his evil face. "That is actually a great hypothesis!" he said. "You know, you're much smarter than I thought. You've got all the fact right, the reason for this crime, but you just have the wrong animal. I didn't steal it."

Anger consumed me and I grabbed Greedy by his dull shirt and lifted him off the ground. I was just about to beat his face into a pulp, when something else pitched in.

"Let the idiot go," a voice said from the shadows. I looked towards the source of the voice in surprise, but I saw only an outline. Greedy also looked shocked. "B-but he's the criminal!" I shouted and put Greedy on the floor.

I heard an evil laugh from the shadows. The voice sounded so familiar, but I couldn't remember for the life of me. "Oh Shifty, no he didn't," the voice said.

"W-well I didn't either!" I stuttered, trying to remember the owner of the voice. "I know you didn't," the figure said knowingly. Greedy and I exchanged glances. "I did." The figure stepped into the dim light.

I gasped in shock, but there was also another feeling in the bottom of my stomach. One that I hadn't felt in a long while.

Everything somehow seemed to make sense now.

**CLIFF HANGER! Well, waddya think? Tell me who you think it is, or if you thought it was Greedy, TELL ME! WHO IS IT?**

**Stripes: oh god, I'm dying of suspense. Pleas update soon.**

**And I will. I can't wait to put the lid on this bottle! Review!**


	8. Well, Surprise Surprise

***reads reviews* What the heck guys! You still haven't figured it out?**

**Stripes: This is a MYSTERY story.**

**True, but still. I actually thought people would figure it out. There were A LOT of hints. **

**Let me tell you something, guys.**

**No, it is not Blade.**

**Blade: I wasn't even introduced yet!**

**No, it was not Greedy.**

**Greedy: I think we already covered that I'm innocent.**

**No, it was not U.**

**U: WHY WOULD I?**

**And no, it was not Rainier.**

**Rainier: huh?**

**HAH! You were all wrong! The real thief is…**

Angel.

I stared in shock at the red panther, but somehow, things started making sense now. She gave me and the equally shocked Greedy an evil smile.

I had gotten everything wrong. Greedy had never tried to steal it. It was Angel the news reporter. The whole "nice girl" thing was just an act, which was really smart. The camera in Sniffles' lab was recorded in black and white. She must've taken a patch of my fur after I died, taken my hat, and pretended to be me when she stole the time machine. She also must've asked Sniffles to see the invention the day before the presentation, and so she learned the code, and that's how she was able to get in. She left my fur and hat on camera to make it more obvious that it was me. Then, Angel broke into my house, that's why the lock was broken, and put the time machine under my bed to make it look like that I hid it there. And when I was on the run, and I bumped into her, she was only there to ensure my capture so I wouldn't be onto her. Then, when I'm still in jail, she stole the cursed idol in hopes of exiting the town with it and the false news the next day. It was her! But… why?

"From the stupid look on your face that you've had for the past five minutes, it seems you've finally figured the whole thing out, and about time, too," said Angel, interrupting my thoughts. "W-why?" was all that came out of my mouth.

"Isn't it obvious?" Angel exclaimed. "It because of your precious cursed idol! Don't you know how many towns want this? I think you've had it long enough." Angel suddenly reached into her black suit and pulled out the cursed idol. How was she holding it, but not dead yet? "S-so you wanted to get caught by the camera?" I asked. "Of course!" the panther yelled. "I'm not an idiot!"

"And you!" she yelled, pointing to Greedy. "You just had to get in the way! Although, it was funny to see you get blamed for stealing, you just wouldn't listen to me when I said stay out of it!"

Greedy growled at Angel, eyes glistening with anger. Suddenly, Angel looked like she remembered something important. "Oh yeah, and I also stole this, just for heck of it." Angel suddenly pulled out the time machine. "W-where's Sniffles?" I asked, thinking about the creator of the time machine. "Oh him? Oh, he won't be stopping anything else. He's currently painted all over his lab wall. I think red is a good color for his room," Angel said evilly.

"I thought you didn't want that!" I shouted. "No, I said I didn't need it, but this thing can be very useful!" she said before pointing the ray gun at me.

"And I think I know just how to use it!" Angel turned a few knobs on the time machine, and I just stood there, frozen with fear. A yellow beam seemed to be charging up. "Hmm, how I send you to a time period no one remembers!" Just before the panther could fire, Greedy actually became of use. "NO!" he shouted and tackled Angel to the ground. The panther roared in frustration and tried to grab the time machine the flew out of her hand, but ended up just turning the dials. On the little screen of the time machine read "August 2, 2012." My eyes widened when I realized that the fallen time machine was currently pointing to me, and the laser was just about to fire.

I was about to get out of the way, but I was too late and I was hit with the laser.

_August 2, 2012_

It was a sort of pleasant feeling, but it made me dizzy. I watched as dates and times flew past me. I felt a burning feeling in the back of my head, but then all I was experiencing was falling.

I saw the black sky, which was glittered with bright tiny stars. I was afraid to shout as I was falling from the sky. I gasped when I felt my back hit something hard. The pain that the hard dirt brought to my back was comforted by the soft grass.

_Where am I? _I asked myself. I got up and saw myself surrounded by trees. Up ahead, I saw a small opening. I quietly walked through the grass, afraid to accidently attract attention by making noise. I bent down and pushed bushes away to see what was going on.

It turns out that I was actually right next to my house! I guess Sniffles' machine put you in different locations every time. But then something caught my eye.

I saw a cat-like figure creeping around my house. At first, I thought it was Clover, Rachel, Scar, or even Stripes, but then I was able to make out some fancy clothes on the figure. "Angel," I growled to myself. I saw her with the time machine in her hands. _August 2, 2012, _I thought to myself. _The day I was arrested. _

I watched Angel and was shocked to see that she hid the time machine is some bushes. _Why isn't she breaking into my house and hiding the machine under my bed? _I asked myself. Now I was really confused now.

I watched Angel walk away, and once she was out of sight and hearing range, I stood up. I quickly but quietly walked over to the bushes across from me. I bent down and my hands searched for metal. Once I found it, I picked it up, surprised by how light it was.

I suddenly had an idea. I would go into my house, tell my past self about all the events of the future, and go back to my own time period and see the changes that were made. I walked up to my house and tried to open the door, only to find it locked. I growled in frustration, remembering that my house keys were taken away from me the day I was arrested. I thought quickly and banged then end of the time machine against the knob, breaking the lock.

_So that's how the lock broke, _I thought to myself, realizing that I was the one that broke into my own house. I walked inside, creeped past my siblings' rooms, and walked into my own room. I looked at the bed, only to find it empty.

Oh yeah… I died when I got hit by a milk truck. I sighed and face palmed. I was just about to leave, when I accidentally stepped on a soda bottle and slipped. The time machine slipped out of my paws and flew under my bed. I fell to the floor and looked under the bed, seeing the time machine. My eyes widened when I saw that it read "10 hours later," and that the trigger was somehow pulled. The laser charged and fired.

Before I could get up, the laser hit me.

_10 Hours in the Future_

It was daytime now, but I still found myself falling out of the sky. I closed my eyes I felt my back hit the hard ground. I groaned in pain, but still got up.

I looked around and saw that I was in the same bushes I was in last time. _Is that time machine wired to my front yard or something? _I thought. I sighed, realizing that the time machine was put under the bed by ME. So I basically helped with my own framing.

I looked though the bushes, and saw everyone crowded around my house. I got a little freaked out when I saw myself in the police car, since it was a bit creepy to be watching myself. I gulped when I saw that I was having trouble escaping. And if I looked over a bit, I could see that the time machine was on the trunk of the car.

Everyone was turned around from the police car, asking Stripes, Splendid, and Cloud questions. That's when I realized something. I reached into my hat and pulled out the small silver key Stripes gave me. I bit my lower lip, knowing exactly what I had to do.

Once I made sure that everyone was turned around, I ran for it. I ran as fast as I could and when the time was right, I threw the silver key through the small crack of the police car. Inside the police car, I saw my past self's head shoot up, but I passed by too fast for him so actually catch a good glimpse of me.

I got behind the car and grabbed the time machine. I set the dials to a different time period and pressed the trigger. The laser began to charge, so I laid it on the trunk and stepped back, waiting for the laser to hit me. Just when it fired, I saw myself escaping the police car.

_August 4, 2012_

Again, I felt myself falling from the sky. When I hit the ground, my back arched in pain once again. I didn't think I could take falling one more time.

I got up and saw that I was, once again, in the bushes next to my house. I looked around and saw Unlimited Bolt walking around my home, searching for something. I gasped and bent down lower, but that seemed to catch his attention.

"Shifty? Is that you?" he asked. "Uh, no. I'm just an old lady!" I said with my best old lady voice, which sounded like crap. "Shifty, we don't have any old ladies in this town. It's too much excitement," Bolt said as he floated over to me. I sighed and stood up.

"Listen, Bolt, I didn't-" I tried to say but was cut off by the yellow bunny. "Don't say anything else. I believe you," is what he said. "I'm telling you! I'm inno- wait, did you just say you believed me?" I said, not sure of what I heard. The bunny nodded.

"Stripes, Scar, Samiee, and Clover told me about the cursed idol. Also, when I saw what happened to Greedy's body, I doubt you're the type of person to splatter his guts all over Muffin's Bakery, no matter how much of a kleptomaniac you are."

I smiled, thankful that Unlimited Bolt, one of the guys who completely hated my guts, believed me. "So, where were you all last night? It's becoming the afternoon now!" Bolt said. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I said. "Well, do you know who the real criminal is?" he asked. "Yes! It's Angel!" I exclaimed. Bolt didn't seem to believe me anymore.

"Angel?" he asked. "Yes," is what I said. "The news reporter?" Bolt asked again. "Yep," I repeated.

"The super nice red panther?"

"That's her."

"The one that aided a cute little bunny when it was hurt?"

"Uh… I think so."

"Are you sure we're talking about the right angel here?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

Bolt looked at me strangely, but said, "She's at city hall, packing her things." I nodded and started heading towards city hall, but I was stopped once again. "Need a lift?" Bolt asked, holding out his paw. I looked at him, but smiled and grabbed his paw.

Bolt used his teleportation powers and we were gone. Teleporting felt like getting squeezed through a tiny hourglass, but it didn't hurt as much as you would think. Before I knew it, we were at city hall.

I gasped and stumbled as I tumbled to the ground, but hey, it beats falling from the sky any day.

I stood up and looked around. Everyone in Happy Tree Town was here, with the exception of Sniffles and Greedy. I growled when I saw Angel speaking to U. No one knew that Angel was the thief… yet. She had a large suitcase that no doubt held the time machine and cursed idol.

Before Bolt could stop me, I ran over to the crowd and shouted to Angel, "YOU!" Everyone was silent. Some people looked angry at me, some looked happy that I was here, some looked shocked, but no one could match Angel's expression of surprise.

U looked around and pointed to himself. "Me?" I shook my head. "No, not you, U. I mean her." I pointed to Angel. Angel seemed to stop breathing for a moment there.

Then she ran off with me hot on her tail.

**BOOM! HOW YA LIKE THAT? BET YOU WEREN'T EXPECTING THAT!**

**Stripes: WHY ARE WE SCREAMING?**

**I DUNNO! REVIEW YOUR THOUGHTS!**

**Sub Zero: I CAN'T STOP SCREAMING!**


	9. How to End it All

**Hello guys! God, I just can't wait til' this crap ends! That's why I'm updating like a madman! OH GOD! I WISH THIS CHAPTER WOULD JUST WRITE ITSELF! But that'll only happen once Giggles hits on Disco Bear.**

**How this story came to be what it is now was when I was listening to some music. I was listening to the song "You're Gonna Go Far Kid" by The Offspring, and I started thinking to myself, "What if Shifty was framed for a crime he didn't take part in?" I played the thought in my head, thinking of how that could play out. Finally, I posted it on Fanfiction and named it some crap name I came up with in a few seconds, expecting that people would think it was crap and I would have to delete it. I never expected "72 Hours" to take off like it did, and I was extremely surprised when I saw how many people liked it. Reading the reviews always brings a smile to my face, seeing how this is one of my most popular stories. I would just like to thank you for sticking with this story as it's progressed, and supporting this story. It really helps out, knowing that I don't write like crap.**

**Stripes:… Wow, that was really touching.**

**Yep, and the touching moment's gone. Thanks a lot, idiot. Anyways, please enjoy this chapter.**

**Please.**

**I have nothing else to do, and I don't want all this hard work to end up in the trash.**

I ran after Angel, making everyone gasp. "Shifty! What are you doing?" Zer0 exclaimed. I didn't answer, afraid to lose my concentration on Angel. I pushed Grim and Broken out of the way, trying to get to Angel. "Help me!" Angel shouted. "He's trying to kill me!" The female panther was using the same "nice girl" act, making tears quiver up in her eyes and her voice shake in fear.

That was enough to fool Splendid.

The super squirrel was in the air in a minute. I ran as fast as I could, seeing the hero hot on my heels. Splendid was about forty feet in the air, when he suddenly stopped and started flying down at me.

I had only seconds to react. I quickly realized that if I kept at the pace I was now, I would get hit by Splendid. So I stopped running. Splendid, instead of hitting me if I were to keep running, he hit hard ground, making half of his body stuck in the dirt and the other half sticking out. Despite me wanting to laugh out loud and tease the squirrel, I kept running. Making fun of Splendid would have to wait for another time.

I lost just a bit of time, but I still kept running after Angel, determined to completely clear my name.

Now, I'm pretty sure that Angel didn't hide the cursed idol in her suitcase, but it was well hidden in her fancy black suit. If I was wrong, then I'm hoping that Unlimited Bolt will tell everyone about Angel and hopefully check her bag. I didn't care; I just want to see the panther pay for her crimes.

Angel zigzagged her way across town, making it harder to follow her. I growled when she started to run through the alleyways of the buildings, disappearing in darkness. I, being the determined raccoon that I am, followed her, making everything darker.

I could still see her form as we weaved through the buildings, but it was a bit blurry. My pace quickened, despite my legs screaming to give out under me. I squinted, trying hard to find the panther I was flowing, but I could only barely see just an outlined figure. She was fast, but she couldn't escape me for the life of her.

Soon, with no more alleyways to turn, Angel ran out from between the building and onto the street, where I could actually see her. She continued running down the street, and boy, was she fast. She kept looking around for place to go, and soon ran into a large building where Splendid used to work when he actually thought that people fell for his glasses, fedora, and tie disguise.

My heart pounded in my ears as I ran up to the building and tried to push it open, only to find it locked. Angel had locked the door. I growled and tried to force the door open, but it wouldn't budge.

"Need some help?" a voice said behind me. I turned around, only to be shocked. Right there, stood my two siblings, Swifty and Thrifty, and the one person that kept me going, Lifty. I smiled and nodded eagerly.

The three raccoons stepped back a bit, before running towards the door and ramming into it, slamming it off its hinges. I looked at the three of them and smiled. "Thanks guys," I said, before running into the building.

I looked around and saw Angel a bit of a distance away, looking shocked that I was able to bust the door down. I ran after her as she turned her heel and left.

I followed her this way and that, making office papers scatter and newspaper clipping fly around. I finally lost her when she got inside an elevator and closed the double doors just before I could get in. I shouted out in frustration and pounded against the elevator doors, but no avail.

I looked around the room for another way up, when I saw a flight of stairs. I sighed, knowing that I'd have to use all those stairs. My legs already ached from all that running, so going up a bunch of stairs was the last thing I needed. But despite that, I ran up the stairs.

As I was going up the stairs, I checked each floor to see if Angel was there, but it always turned out that she was another floor higher. And then finally, after all the stair climbing and a bit of vomiting, I made it to the top of the building. It turns out that Angel was really good at plying hard to get, because she was on the roof of the building.

Angel stood at the edge of the roof, watching me as I climbed up, heaving and wheezing. I looked at her, trying to form words. "You… suck!" I shouted, panting in between my words. Angel smirked and pulled out the cursed idol from her black jacket. "Looking for this?" she teased, waving the idol around in her paw.

"I… hate… you!" I yelled, still panting, but getting my breath back. "Oh come on, Shifty! How far will you go just to clear your name and get this stupid idol back?" Angel exclaimed. I raised an eye and smiled at her. "I'm sorry, have we met? My name is Shifty Raccoon, the guy who shoved his own brother off the edge of a hot air balloon just to make a few bucks."

"Impressive," Angel said. She put the cursed idol on the ground and raised her paws up in a fighting stance. "Come on, put your paws up." I looked at her weird, but nodded and put myself in the same stance that she was in.

We stood still for a moment, until Angel came running at me. I gasped and quickly stepped back, dodging her punch. I myself threw a punch, but she dodged that as if it was nothing. She swung at me again, but this time she got me.

I stumbled back and grabbed at my stinging cheek. I felt blood run down my face, so I touched my cheek to find three angry claw marks. "You have claws?" I exclaimed. "I'm a panther, duh," Angel said, holding up her paw to reveal a black claw sticking out of each finger.

I frowned and ran at Angel. She dodged and blocked every punch that I threw at her, obviously being more nimble than I thought. Then, instead of just plain punching her, I took both paws and pushed her back.

Angel gasped and stumbled back to the edge of the building. She tried to keep her balance, but ended up falling off. But just before she fell to her death, I grabbed her black jacket to keep her from dying. We looked into each other's eyes, full of surprise even from me.

I smiled as I slowly let my fingers loosen their grip and Angel began to go lower. "You wouldn't _dare_," Angel growled through clenched teeth, eyes glistening with hatred. I smiled. "I'm sorry, have we met?" I asked. Then I let go of her.

Just before I was about to watch her fall to her death, Angel purposely grabbed the idol and threw it over the ledge. And then she fell to her death.

I gasped as I saw the cursed idol fall from the sky. If the idol broke, the curse would also break and our ability to come back after dying every day would be lost. So I stood up, backed up until was about ten feet from the ledge, and then I did the stupidest thing possible.

I sprinted across the roof and jumped once I got to the ledge.

Now, I've fallen from the sky plenty of times to know that it's not fun unless you know you have a parachute. Lucky for me, I was able to get close enough to the idol to eventually grab it. What sucked for me was that I was falling from the sky from a hundred feet in the air.

I looked at the idol and said, "I freaking hate you." I closed my eyes and waited until my guts were splattered all over the concrete. It never came.

I slowly opened my eyes to find myself floating just inches above the ground. I looked around and saw that Splendid was holding me in the air. I smiled at him and said, "Thanks man. You finally did your job right this time."

Splendid nodded in gratitude, but his eyes widened when he saw the cursed idol in my paw. "What's wrong?" I asked and looked at the creepy looking statue. We then both looked up in unison to see a plane falling from the sky just above us.

I sighed and looked at the cursed idol. "No death should be worth you."

Then we were flattened by a plane, which exploded five seconds later.

…

I heard whispers, which slowly awoke me. I gently opened my eyes and looked around to see nearly every Tree Friend staring at me. I looked down to see that I was in a hospital bed, and then I looked back up to see them still staring.

"Is there something on my face?" I asked, looking around at everyone. "SHIFTY!" Everyone shouted in unison and I was soon tackled by hugs. "Wah? Is it Valentine's day or something?" I asked, not really understanding what was happening.

"You saved Happy Tree Town!" Muffin shouted, patting my shoulder. Then all the memories of yesterday's events flooded into my mind. I gave a large grin. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess I did! Wait, where's Angel?"

"Cloud has her locked up in Happy Tree Prison," Stripes said and punched my arm. I gasped and held by bruising arm. Everyone was silent for a minute. "Wow, love does hurt!" I said, smiling. Stripes laughed and punched me in the arm again. I frowned and said, "Yep, still feeling the love." Everyone laughed.

The whole hour was filled with people apologizing to me for accusing me of thievery, and others not apologizing, but asking me questions. I was fine with both. I was most happy to see Lifty. He apologized for accusing me and turning his back on me when I needed him most. I instantly forgave him, and I even seen him stealing Sniffles' wallet while he was speaking to me. I guess we were back to the mischievous twin thieves.

It also turns out that Greedy and Scampy had to leave yesterday, Sniffles told me that Greedy was really proud of me, and hoping to meet again sometime.

"I still can't believe Angel did it," Sniffles told me. "Me neither, but she is EVIL!" I responded. "You know what? I'm going to look this girl up to see if she's done anything else this bad before." I nodded and watches Sniffles take out his laptop, sit down on a chair, and started typing. Grim and Broken stood beside him, looking over his shoulder.

Yoyo stood next to me and asked, "So, what's going to happen to this Angel chick?" I shrugged. "We're not sure yet," Stripes answered for me. "Can we at least kill her outside of Happy Tree Town?" Milky asked, crossing her arms. "Yes!" I exclaimed, shocking everyone. "That is a great idea! You don't know how much I would love to hear the words-"

"ANGEL'S DEAD!"

We all turned in shock, seeing that the speaker was Sniffles. "What?" I asked in shock and ran over to him. We all gathered behind him and looked over his shoulder and onto the screen. On the screen was a picture of an old newspaper clipping. The picture on the cover was of a smiling Angel, looking as happy as she could be. The paper read:

_**Cheerful News Reporter Found Dead in Dumpster**_

_On May 16, 2012, a well-known news reporter by the name of Angel Panther was found deceased in a dumpster beside an old abandoned building was large stab marks in her chest and claw marks were detected all over the young animal's body. It is unknown why anyone would want to murder the twenty year old cat, and we have not yet caught the murderer. Angel's friends and family have placed a large reward for whoever brings back the sweet girl's killer, dead or alive. See page 5 for contact info._

That's when I stopped reading. "That's impossible!" Vlad shouted. "We have her in jail! I'm calling Cloud," Stripes said and pulled out her cell phone.

"This can't be possible," Muffin said. "Well, there's only three possible answers to this," Rachel said. "Either Angel has some sort of identical twin sister, she went back in time and killed herself, or the Angel we have is no Angel at all."

Everyone exchanged glances. "Ah, let's stop worrying about it!" Samiee said. "Let's just be thankful that we have the cursed idol back."

I smiled and nodded, deciding to go with Samiee's idea. Stripes looked at her phone and put it away. "Hey Shifty, do you know what this calls for?" the tiger asked. I shrugged. "What is it?" Stripes cupped her paws around her mouth and shouted, "DOG PILE ON SHIFTY!"

My eyes widened as I was tackled by Stripes, then U, then Bunny, and then everyone else.

…

I stood there, looking through the bars of my cell. I can't believe my plan failed. Maybe I should've just waited until the whole presentation was over. Maybe I should've left Angel alive.

Angel was a clever, but naive panther. I killed her months ago, which was a bad idea since now her family wants my head. Hiding the young panther's body in a dumpster was actually a really bad idea. I should've just disposed of her body underground.

"Hey Angel, you've got a call," the one named Cloud said. He walked over to my cell and handed me a small phone. I had almost forgotten that I was under Angel's identity. I grabbed the phone and held it to my ear. "Yeah?" I asked.

"You're in jail, aren't you?" a female voice said on the other end. I sighed in response. "Dang it Blade! You were supposed to get the cursed idol, and then I could come in!" the female speaker yelled in anger. "Yes ma'am, but the raccoon named Shifty got in the way!" I explained.

"I knew it was a bad idea hiring you. Listen, I'll give you another shot," she growled. "You screw up again, and I'll take matters in my own hands. _Got it_?" I gritted my teeth. I hated being bossed around. "Yes ma'am," I forced out. I heard a click on the other end, which meant that this conversation was done.

"Here!" I said and shoved the phone through the bars. The Cloud guy took it and looked at me oddly. "Hey, why'd she call you 'Blade?'" he asked. I looked at him and grinned. I made the "come here" motion with my finger.

Once the wolf got close enough, I shoved my paw though the bars and dug my claws into his neck. The wolf struggled until one of my claws cut through his jugular vein, making him go limp. I grinned and dropped him. I then grabbed the lock on my cell door and put the claw of my index finger inside the hole.

The lock clicked and I removed it. I kicked the door open and ran down the hallway until I reached the door on the end. I kicked it open and ran out. No one was on the streets, so I ran straight for the Happy Tree Forrest. One I was over the border and lost in trees, by appearance began to change.

I grew much taller, taller than that blue moose fellow, and black stripes appeared on my fur. My eyelashes disappeared and my clothes vanished as well. In place of my black suit was a large light brown trench coat that reached my ankles and covering my legs were black jeans along with a black belt. My buck teeth became dagger-like fangs and my packman pupils became black dots with red irises.

This is what I really looked like. I was not a panther, not a girl, and definitely not an always cheerful idiot.

I looked into the distance at Happy Tree Town, forming another plan in my mind.

**Thanks for reading and supporting me over the chapters. **

**Scar belongs to blaze404**

**Muffin and Rainier belong to MuffinHTF**

**Grim and Broken belong to Broken and Grim Ruin**

**Vlad and Rachel belong to XenaTheAlienChick**

**Cloud belongs to ninakienaki**

**Bunny and Limit belong to BunnyTheEpicBunny**

**Zer0 belongs to Carlos45**

**Clover belongs to Story telling-tallent fairy**

**Swifty and Thrifty belong to .GirlxX**

**U and Samiee belong to Flippy Face**

**Milky belongs to RevGirl7**

**Yoyo belongs to YoyoHTF**

**Sub Zero, Stripes, Blink, Link, Mirrors, Blade/Angel, Greedy, and Scampy belong to me.**

**Everyone else belongs to Mondo Media.**

**Hey listen, I'm making a new story. Keep an eye out for it, because it gives more info on Blade and takes place a few months after this. **

**Thanks for supporting me.**

**Carrots are orange.**

_**-stripesthetiger11**_


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